Business Ethics

Question 1

Cicero, NL

Answer 1

‘we do not aim to be rich for our sakes, but for the sakes of our children’

Question 2

3 principles on business from summa theologica

Answer 2

1. natural exchange over wealth-making
2. no price discrimination
3. immoral to charge something for more than its worth

Question 3

Encyclica …. and its 3 principles on business

Answer 3

Encyclica Rerum Novarum;

1. recognised needs of workers
2. argued for trade unions
3. protection of the needs of poor countries

Question 4

Protestantism

Answer 4

concern about competitive industrialisation of capitalism, and its subsequent social inequality

Question 5

catholic church

Answer 5

against free market and capitalism because it acts against the poor and for selfish wealth

Question 6

Singer’s triple bottom line

Answer 6

people, planet, profit

1. wealthy have a duty to the poor
2. business has a secondary duty to environment
3. profit should have an economic benefit to wider society

Question 7

Externalities

Answer 7

costs or benefits external to the company, pollution is a negative externality

Question 8

Stakeholders

Answer 8

any parties affected by a business practice

• internal stakeholders are managers and employees
• external (local community, customers, shareholders, government etc)

Question 9

What does the economist Milton Friedman argue?

Answer 9

companies have a duty only to their shareholders (profits), its for society to set other ethical rules

Question 10

case studies for when companies pursue least cost-choices to boost profit to bad effect

Answer 10

• thousands died due to mustard gas at Union Carbide (US firm) plant in Bhopal (1986, India)
• thousands got sick in 2008 Trafigura oil waste disposal on the Ivory Coast due to hydrogen sulphide

Question 11

what is the central issue of Globalisation according to which economist?

Answer 11

Amartya Sen: ‘the unequal sharing in the benefits of globalisation’

Question 12

Quote by Milton Friedman on company responsibility

Answer 12

‘Corporate executives do not have responsibilities in their business activities, other than to make as much money as possible for their shareholders’

Question 13

Robert Solomon quote

Answer 13

‘serving the public and taking care of one’s own employees are not an afterthought of business, but rather its very essence’

Question 14

Rerum Novarum 1891

Answer 14

‘the following duties bind the employer: not to look upon their work people as their slaves, but to respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character’

Question 15

Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Answer 15

‘it matters that the prevailing ethos of a company brings together corporate purpose and personal values’

Question 16

Michael Wilkinson and Michael Wilcockson

Answer 16

‘it is hard to separate businesses being ethical for its own sake with the fact that being ethical might be good for business’

Question 17

Pope Francis

Answer 17

‘the natural environment is a collective good and the responsibility of everyone’

Question 18

Aquinas, ST

Answer 18

‘man should not consider his material possessions as his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need’

Question 19

Quote Michael Sandel on the ‘moral limits of markets’

Answer 19

‘the question of markets is really a question about how we want to live together. Do we want a society where everything is up for sale? Or are there certain moral and civic goods that markets do not honor and money cannot buy?

Question 20

Vivek Wadhwa Quote

Answer 20

‘Ethics need to be carefully sown into the fabric of companies’

Question 21

What has the market philosophy created?

Answer 21

‘a consumerist idea of freedom’

Question 22

What concepts do Kant say are logically incoherent?

Answer 22

• a lying promise

- stealing

Question 23

What do Hegel and Bradley reply to Kant’s saying stealing is incoherent?

Answer 23

there is nothing self-contradictory about the world without private property so stealing isn’t a logically incoherent concept

Question 24

Who defends Kant’s idea that stealing is wrong?

Answer 24

Christine Korsgaard says Kant is just saying IF private property exists than stealing would be a non-universalizable maxim

Question 25

What principles should businesses follow according to Kant?

Answer 25

1. do not coerce or deceive
2. contribute to the development of human rationality and morality
3. Reduce an information asymmetry
4. companies should provide ‘meaningful work’
5. Profits should be consequences, rather than a goal

Question 26

What does Jack Stack’s ‘Open book management’ theory say?

Answer 26

the information received by employees should not only help them do their jobs effectively, but help them understand how the company is doing as a whole

Question 27

What is meaningful work?

Answer 27

• work is freely chosen, allows worker autonomy
• sufficient salary
• does not interfere with moral development

Question 28

Rawls’ theory of justice

Answer 28

in order justice to be truly just, everyone must be afforded the same rights under the law.

Question 29

Kant main response RECAP:

Answer 29

• rejects idea that a business’ main responsibility was to its shareholders as this treats humans merely as a means to an end. You need to consider all stakeholders.
• consequences are irrelevant, whistleblower: If someone is acting unethically, you have a duty to expose them.

Question 30

In Aristotle talks about 2 types of business…

Answer 30

• Oikonomikos or household trading - e.g. where a farmer trade crops for clothes clothes. An essential part of a eudaimonic society. Specialise, and then exchange what you produce for other goods or services.
• Chrematisike or trade for profit - Aristotle saw this as ‘wholly devoid of virtue’. Trade, if done purely for profit, does not involve acquiring any true wealth. Aristotle attacks the profit-driven approach to business.

Question 31

In what ways has Business Ethics moved towards an Aristotelian approach?

Answer 31

• Lists of rules have been replaced with company values
• businesses can’t be separated from society, everyone is part of the larger community, the ‘polis’
• Offices have become communities, increased focus on building up relationships among staff
• ‘mission statements’ which summarise the business’ telos
• more focus on eudaemonia for the community which VT says is even more important than for the individual

Question 32

What does MacIntyre argue?

Answer 32

The profit motive means that modern businesses and corporations are incompatible with virtue

Question 33

What does Solomon argue?

Answer 33

there is a distinction between excellence and virtue. Non-moral virtues make you skilled at something, and business is the practice of non-moral virtues which are competitive and self-serving.

Question 34

What does Globalisation mean for VE in businesses?

Answer 34

the nature of the ‘polis’ has altered as corporations have global responsibilities

Question 35

Natural Law on Business Ethics

Answer 35

• primary precept is to live in an ordered society so businesses need to be regulated to prevent them mistreating workers.
• Primary Precept is education, so Natural Law would be against child labour - it prevents a child fulfilling his God-given purpose.
• Natural Law provides absolute, deontological secondary precepts against all forms of exploitation and human rights abuse.

Question 36

Utilitarian response

Answer 36

• Utilitarians would have high expectations of businesses.
• Utilitarianism will protect workers rights, ensuring fair pay, safe working conditions, sociable hours etc.
• Bribes: An Act Utilitarian would agree to bribes, but a Rule Utilitarian may say that taking bribes generally leads to bad decisions being made, with negative consequences.

Question 37

Situationist response

Answer 37

• Businesses which put people before rules (Personalism), may be acting ethically according to Situation Ethics.
• its approach to business ethics is flexible.
• Love is the only norm, so a situationist would reject rules like ‘Never spy on other companies’; ‘Don’t take bribes’ etc.
• Many people see business as a ‘survival of the fittest’ arena, and would agree with a situationist approach - whatever works.